Clint Opens Up
by RobinXVIII
Summary: When Bruce Banner finds out that Clint Barton is deaf how will it affect their friendship. And how will the Hulk deal with it when Clint loses his hearing aids in the middle of the battle and Hulk is the only one around.
1. Chapter 1

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**Clint**  
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Clint threw the pillow over his shoulder hitting his bedroom door. Where were they he thought. They had been right their, on top of his clothes. He had only taken them off to shower. It didn't matter that Coulson had made sure that they were waterproof.  
Old habits die hard. And Clint liked thosefew moments of peace.

He left his bedroom, having checked every inch of the room. Clint started his search of the lounge. His lounge was just as empty as his bedroom. Clint didn't have much stuff to fill the rooms that Stark had given him with. He hoped that one day he would.  
This was the first place that was starting to feel like home, since the cirus. It was the first time in his life that he had a place of his own that he wouldn't have to suddenly up and leave. It had taken him a few months to het used to that  
idea, but Stark had been insistentthat they all move into what was now called Avengers Tower. So much so that they all now lived their whenever they weren't working.

Clint finished turning his sofa inside out, when he felt a hand rest gently on his shoulder. Before he knew who it was, Clint had sent the person flying onto their back and had a knife to their throat.  
Doctor Bruce Banner looked ip at Clint his hands held upin surrender. Clint sighed to himself. Old habits die hard he thought again.

Replacing his knife,hestepped back allowing the Doctor some room. He jusst hoped that he hadn't done enough to bring the Hulk out. Not that Clint minded the Other Guy, in fact he quite like him. The Hulk was like a child and Clint liked children.  
Banner seemed quite calm though, so Clint assumed that the Hulk wasn't going to make an apperance. The Doctor was a little green around them eyes, but from Clints memory he normally was.

Once Banner was stood up Clint allowed himself to slowly panic about what he was going to do now. No one apart from Nat, Coulson and Fury knew that he was deaf and Clint would rather it stay that way. He wasn't sure how the team would react, but he could  
guess that it would mean his leaving. No one would want to work with him if their was the possibility that at any moment he wouldn't be able to hear them. Or as Doctor Banner had just proved hear the enemy coming up on him. Clint knew how to work  
with his deafness and Nat knew how to work around it but the others wouldn't.

He looked at the Doctor and saw that Banner's eyebrow was raised in slight confusion. He must have been calling Clint's name. Their was no way that Clint could say he was zoned out. He was an assassin. Clint couldn't even remember the last time he had  
been probably relaxed.

While Clint was trying to work out if he could knock the Doctor out without the Hulk appearing, Banner signed something at him.  
"I will keep your secret."


	2. Chapter 2

**Bruce**

He had been on his way to bed when Tony had pulled him into the lab. Bruce normally wouldn't have minded, if it hadn't been for the fact that he had been awake for at least 84 hours. Why this wasn't unusal, even before the incident Bruce had been a terrible sleeper and now that his body could survive longer without sleep (it had only gotten worse in fact, and being on the run hadn't helped that fact), Bruce had just about reached his limit. Knowing that if he didn't sleep soon then he would most likely pass out, again not uncommon. The nightmares never helped, the most Bruce could sleep in one go, (unless he'd passed out or changed back from the Hulk), was five hours. Maybe that was why he worked himself so hard, he thought to himself.

Also, while Bruce enjoyed working with Tony, (Tony not being that scared of him and treating him like a human being), the man did have a habit of pushing Bruce's buttons and trying to cause him to Hulk-out. Bruce didn't mind it, well most of the time, he knew that it was part and parcel of living with Tony Stark. But Bruce was to tired to deal with it right now and while he wasn't sure if he could even Hulk-out right now he didn't want to find out.

This time however Tony needed Bruce to go and find Agents Barton for him. Tony had been playing around with the man's arrows, which was sure to go down well. Barton wasn't listening to J.A.R.V.I.S and Tony was to scared to go and find the agent. Bruce understood why, the man was protective of his equipment and wouldn't take kindly to Tony touching it in the first place.

Bruce hadn't wanted to go, he was too tired, but Tony was getting on his nerves and Bruce knew that the easiest way to get him to shut up was to just find Agent Barton. Not that that was going to be fun. He was pretty sure that the agents didn't like him. Bruce wasn't surprised, when people found out about the Other Guy they stopped treating him like a human and more like a ticking time bomb that could exploded at any moment. All expect Tony. Thinking about all of this was giving him a bigger headache.

He sighed as he entered the lift. Maybe he should be treated like a bomb, Bruce thought to himslef after telling J.A.R.V.I.S where he wanted to go. He was in main ways just a bomb waiting to go of and destroy stuff. Sometimes Bruce did just feel like giving into the Other Guy and letting him smash stuff, even the meir thought of it was causing the Other Guy to stir. Bruce pushed hard to stop him from getting out. So hard that Bruce thought he was going to throw up, his legs having given out.

Bruce thought to bring his breath back under control. He and the Other Guy had been getting on so much better these days. They were able to hold something of a conversation and could sense each others feeling a lot clearer. In fact from what Bruce had been able to tell the Hulk was just a big kid, clever, but still just a big kid.

Still unsure if this was a good thing or not Bruce pulled himself up just as the lift arrived at the right floor. Bruce walked slowly over to Agent Barton's door and knocked. Send the agent to Tony and then sleep thougt Bruce, the world swaying slightly around him.

After ten mintues of knocking and waiting Bruce was debating wheather or not to just leave. He knew that the agent was in there, J.A.R.V.I.S had comfirmed this. While he was tempted to leave and get some sleep, Bruce knew that Tony wouldn't let this go until he had found Agent Barton and brought him to the lab. Bruce groaned and leaned his head on the door, banging it ever so slightly. He'd forgotten about the rule. The stupid rule Fury had made about Tony and Barton not being allowed to be alone together. And seeing as everyone else was out for the day Bruce would have to be there.

Knowing that the quicker Bruce found the Agents and dragged him to the lab the quicker he could get his much needed sleep. Looking at his watch he saw that he was coming up on 85 hours. He just hoped that he would get some sleep before he hit 90. Seeing as last time he'd gone that long without sleep he'd destroyed an entire town. Luckily it had been abadoned years ago, but that wasn't the point.

Five mintues later and Bruce realised that there was no way he would get any sleep within the next five hours.


	3. Chapter 3

**Clint**

Clint stared at the Doctor in confusion. He knew that he should say sorry for attacking him but he was in to much shock right now. Taking in what Banner had said Clint took a good look at him. Banner had been in his lab for the past week, not once leaving it. Stark was the only one allowed in. Clint guessed it was because Nat had distracted him while Cap threw him off a building. It had been the only way to get Banner to Hulk-out at the time but they had all realised after not seeing Banner for three days that any trust or good feelings Banner had built up towards them were gone. The only reason that Stark had seen Banner was because nothing, not even the Hulk destroying one of his labs could keep Stark away from Banner.

Clint gave a short sharp nod towards the Doctor and continued on scanning the room for his hearing aids. He didn't think that Banner would tell anyone about this. Not that Banner really talked to anyone apart from Tony, and even then didn't seem to get a word in edgeways. Not that you could with a man like Tony Stark.

After a few mintues Clint felt something tap his shoulder. Being a master assissin caused Clint to throw the person to the floor and thrust his knife inches away from their face. Again Clint realised that he had just attacked Doctor Banner. How had he forgotten that he was there. Clint replaced his knife and signed sorry at the Doctor. Banner just shock his head and held out his hand. He had found his hearing aids.

Taking them from the Doctor, Clint quickly placed them in his ears and then flinched as the silence hit him. The only noise being Banner's ragged breaths. Clint looked over at the man, even he knew that Banner's shortness of breath wasn't from him attacking him. The man had been through much worse, according to S.H.I.E.L.D.S file on him. Looking at him Clint realised that he was about to faint.

Clint managed to reach the Doctor just as he lost consciousness. Moving the Doctor to his sofa Clint ran his eyes over him checking for any signs as to why he had fainted. Finding none, just confused Clint even more. From what Stark had told them Banner had been sleeping and the food that he was taking him always seemed to be eaten.

Clint pulled his knife out again when he heard J.A.R.V.I.S speak.

"Doctor Banner has been awake for the last 85 hours. It seems that he has barely recoved from his last Hulk-out, as you call it." Even though J.A.R.V.I.S was a computor Clint could still hear the accusing tone in his voice. It wasn't his fault that Cap and Nat had deemed that this fight needed the Hulk or that insted of waiting for the guy to change they had thrown him off a building. However, Clint knew that he should have checked in on the Doctor. He had been kind to Clint after the episode with Loki, never asking him questions and letting him hang round the lab.

Heck, even letting him sleep in the lab and waking him from the nightmares, then passing it off as an accident. Banner had done more for Clint in the past year than anyone else and how had Clint repaid him. By letting him drown in self-hatered and work himself to the point of excustion, again. He knew that this wasn't the first time that the man had done this, Clint could think of at least seven other instances, that year alone.

85 hours, Clint thought to himself. They should have realised that Banner was lying to Stark about sleeping. What about eating he thought?

"J.A.R.V.I.S when did Doctor Banner last eat something?" Clint paused waiting for a reply.

"The Doctor last ate 36 hours ago."

"36." Clint cried. He rushed over to his fridge and then cursed himself for only having some Russian vodka, from Nat, and only the barest essentials. "J.A.R.V.I.S." Clint started.

"I will have Dummy bring up some food for you and Doctor Banner. Though may I advise that you have a bin at hand in case." Clint frowned, he didn't want to think about why the Doctor might need a bin. He moved back to the sofa and covered Banner with a blanket and to place a bin down by his head. "Also, Mr. Stark has requested your presents in his lab." J.A.R.V.I.S added. This caused Clint to pause, his brain firing off in different directions. He didn't want to leave Banner alone, he felt that he owed it to the man to help him, repay him for what he had done for him. But then again is Stark wanted to see him in his lab then he must have been messing around with Clint's arrows again.

Clint felt to make sure that his knife was still on him and walking to the door picked up another. He didn't like leaving Banner like this but if he didn't show up then Stark would come down here and make a fuss over the Doctor, which knowing Banner was the last thing he wanted.

"J.A.R.V.I.S." Clint began.

"Yes, Agent Barton."

"Watch Banner for me and if anything happens..." Clint trailed off. He didn't want Stark knowing about this, not just yet. Not until Clint had a chanceto talk to Banner about, well everything really.

"I will say that there is an urgant call for you."

"Thank you J.A.R.V.I.S." Clint left his room. Locking the door behind him, he didn't like doing it but Clint needed to talk to Banner. Turning with a sigh he headed towards the lab. This was going to be fun.

 **Thank you again to everyone who reads this. Please leave a review, it means a lot knowing what people think. Any ideas would also be welcomed.**

 **This chapter may feel a little rushed as I wanted to get it out quickly. I don't know when the next chapter will go up but hopefully soon.**

 **Thank you to KnightOwl247 for your review. I hope you like this chapter. Deaf Hawkeye is really interesting to write.**

 **Thank you again.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Bruce**

Bruce watched as the Agent turned around again and resumed his search for his hearing aids. He had worked out a long time ago that the Agent was deaf.

Once everything had begun to calm down after New York, Banner had moved quickly into Stark Towers. It had taken a few days of Tony going on at him non-stop and Fury promising to stop General Ross from looking for him and to keep any other interested parties off his back. Not that even Fury could stop General Ross, but Bruce understood what was being offered. And knowing that he would most likely have to go on the run again, but heck why not enjoy some time with someone who didn't hate him. Bruce had gone to live at Stark Towers.

It lasted four months before Steve Rogers joined them. He had been staying with S.H.I.E.L.D and when Tony saw where he was living had virtually dragged him to Stark Towers. Bruce didn't mind. In fact Bruce liked having Steve there. He had someone else, other than Pepper, to help him deal with Tony and although Steve seemed scared of Bruce he did very well to hide it and had even tried to talk to him about the Hulk and what his life was like before and after. Bruce had seen the file that S.H.I.E.L.D had on him, it had barley anything from before the incident or about his childhood, which he liked. And no matter how many times anyone asked he wasn't going to expand on what was already there.

Thor had just turned up out of the blue bringing Jane and Darcey with him. And now they all had rooms if they ever needed a place to crash, which was becoming more and more often. Bruce liked Jane and Darcey, they had asked a lot of questions about the Hulk, but out of scientific curiosity more than anything. He had shut down those questions but it was nice to have people to talk to about science, that weren't Tony. And Thor. Well, Thor was Thor. What more could you say.

Nat and Barton had just appeared. Each claiming a room of their own, right next door to each other. Bruce had gone to bed one night and in the three hours that he slept they had broken into Stark Towers and brought all of their stuff with them.

Nat was the most scared of him and unless she had to avoided him at all costs. Bruce had gone along with it, knowing that her fear was understandable. Tony and Steve had tried to get the two to become friends but Nat had point blank refused and Bruce had just let her be. After what the Other Guy had down to her Bruce knew that no bridges could be built there, so what was the point in trying.

Barton on the other hand seemed to seek Bruce out. Not that he minded it, in fact Bruce had come to enjoy it. It had started with Barton not going to S.H.I.E.L.D.S doctor and knowing that Bruce kept painkillers, that he himself had created (because nothing else worked on him), and so had snuck into the lab. Bruce just so happened to be making a new batch, Tony having stolen the last lot, when he heard the alarm on the safe door, where he kept the painkillers, going off. Finding a startled Barton, Bruce had shut down the alarm and pulled the shaking archer over to the couch. Ten mintues later he had handed Barton the left over mixture as a smoothie and told him to drink it while Bruce checked for injuries.

Bruce had found a few, some new some old. Barton had told him that the new ones were from where he had been training with knifes, but Bruce knew that they were self-inflected. He had allowed Barton to think that he belived the lie, which looking back on it now was not a good idea.

The archer had started to spend more time in Bruce's lab, never when anyone else was around, but no one other than Bruce or Tony was ever there. And Tony never stayed for long, normally dragging Bruce to his lab for something or other.

They had fallen into a pattern which had ended four months ago when the Other Guy had come out and thrown the couch with Barton on it through a wall. Neither Bruce nor the Other Guy had known that he was sleeping on the couch, he had hidden himself behind the nurmous pillows and blankets that Bruce kept there. But that still didn't excuse what had happened. Bruce hadn't made it better by locking his lab up and going on the run for three weeks. No one had noticed. J.A.R.V.I.S had kept them out of the lab and had pretened to send food up and had faked security footage. Tony had checked the footage a few times but no one else had even bothered.

It was one of the times when Agent Barton was asleep on the couch that Bruce noticed his hearing aids. He liked to know everything in his enviroment, espically his lab. So when running a few tests Bruce had noticed that something was stopping the test from running right. It had taken him only a few mintues to realise that whatever was doing it was on Barton and then only a few seconds for Bruce to spot the hearing aids. He was good with hearing aids, having made a few while on the run for some people. He never brought it up because he knew that if the archer had wanted him to know about it then he would have told him. Bruce didn't mind people keeping secrets from him, he had so many of his own that it was nice to be reminded that other people had their own.

Bruce had found the hearing aids quickly. They were hidden under an open book on the table. Picking them up Bruce had then tried to work out the best way to give the agent back his hearing aids. There was still the possibilty that the Other Guy could come out, Bruce could feel him in the back of his mind. And if Clint did what he had done before than the chances were even higher of him coming out. The Other Guy was angry that Barton had stopped coming by the lab, and hadn't looked for Bruce during those three weeks. He was also upset that Barton had shouted at Bruce after Bruce had changed back from Hulking-out, as they called it.

Once Bruce had decided that the easiest thing to do was to tap Barton on the shoulder, hope that he didn't attack him, take him to Tony's lab. Then deal with that. And then sleep. Hopefully within the next five hours. Knowing that that was unlikely to happen Bruce had taken a step forward and fallen to his knees. Grunting Bruce thought he heard Tony's AI butler talking to him, but right now everything sounded like he was underwater.

Knowing that this wasn't going to get any better and that the quicker he got this over with then the quicker he could sleep Bruce pushed himself to his feet. The world continued to sway before him but at least it had stopped spinning.

Bruce lay his hand on Barton's shoulder, and ended up on the floor with a knife hovering above his eye for his efforts. Taking quick short breath Bruce tried to talk the Other Guy down. He really wasn't happy now. He wanted to come out and smash the archer for hurting Bruce. Again he pushed the Other Guy down and again it made him want to throw up. If he hadn't been on the ground already then Banner was sure that he would have fainted.

Barton took his hearing aids from Banner and signed sorry. Bruce nodded, screwing his eyes shut as the action caused lights to dance in front of his eyes. He slowly pushed himself to his feet praying that he would survive the next few hours until he was able to sleep. There was no way in hell that Tony was going to see this or Agent Barton for that fact. Bruce had got through this before and he would be fine now. He'd felt worse. A lot worse he remembed. Looking up at Agent Barton he saw the confused look on his face. Bruce noticed that his own breath were coming in short gaspes.

Bad sign, he thought to himself as the world span once and then went black.

He felt himself fall into someone's arms and just hoped that no one else would find out about this.


	5. Chapter 5

**Clint**

Clint walked quickly back to his room. The meeting with Strak had gone ok. It had started out with them both screaming at each other. Clint at Stark for touching his arrows and messing around with stuff, again. Did he not remember what had happened last  
/time he did that. Stark at Clint for not trusting him and maybe, just maybe Stark was tyring to help Clint. When they had both calmed down enough that Clint had put his knife away and Stark had sent his suit back, this is why Fury had the rule, Stark  
/had started to explain what he had been doing. After the third design was shown and explained to him, Clint had warmed up to the idea of Stark working on his arrows. Just as long as Stark told him what he was going to do to them, although Clint doubted  
/he would understand anything Stark said.

After a while they had headed down to the shooting range where Clint had to admit some of Stark ideas were actually rather good. Other weren't and the fact that Clint had managed to start two fires, one with an arrow that was filled with water (how that  
/happened even Stark didn't know), had proved it.

In total Clint and Stark had spent four hours together and now Clint was eager to get back to his rooms and check up on the Doctor. J.A.R.V.I.S had informed him once out of earshot that the Doctor was still sleeping and that Dummy, one of Stark's robots,  
/had brought some food, along with spare clothes for Doctor Banner, pillows and blankets from Banner's lab and one of Banner's notebooks.

Hearing that Banner needed extra clothes sent Clint into a run. He wasn't worried about bumping into anyone. None of the Stark Industry staff came higher then level fifteen, Pepper was away for another two days at a conference, that Stark should really  
/be at because damn it Tony you are still a CEO of this company. Thor was off dealing with the nine realms, Fury was off dealing with Coulson and his team, must remember to catch up with Phil at some point Clint reminded himself as he swung himself  
/round a set of corners, coming closer and closer to his rooms by the second. Nat and Steve were with some new S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents in the middle of nowhere and where gone for at least another week and a half. Clint would have gone if it weren't for  
/paperwork and the fact that Fury wanted someone other than Stark on stand-by.

Reaching his door Clint paused. He banged his head on his door as he remembered the last conversation he had had with the Doctor. It had been after a battle. Banner had changed back from Hulking-out sooner than he should have and Clint being the nearest  
/one to him had had to save Banner from the enemy. After the battle Clint had yelled at the Doctor for being stupid and selfish. Didn't he know that him changing back before he was meant to could have cost people their lives.

Opening his door Clint groaned as he remembered the look on Banner's face when he had slapped him. Even Clint had admitted to himself that he'd gone to farat that point. No one else had seen and Banner never mentioned it but Clint saw the looks

of fear Banner gave him and how whenever Clint entered a room Banner left it as quickly and quitely as he could.

Clint's groan was matched by an even louder one coming from his sofa. Rushing over Clint saw that Banner was shaking and that he was covered in sweat. Feeling his forehead Clint groaned inwardly, Banner had a fever and a high one at that.

Clint headed into the kitchen seeing the food on the table. He quickly removed his weapons, leaving a single knife in his boot. Telling himself that it was an old habit, but knowing deep down that he wanted some kind of protection from the Doctor greenrage  
monster. Not that it would do any good, Clint had seen the Hulk take two missiles to the chest and get staright back up, after a moment or two. Clint dropped the flannel he was holding, that was the same battle as when Clint had yelled at  
wonder he changed back so sooner, Clint thought. Picking up the flannel again and moving to fill a bowl with cold water and ice, Clint asked J.A.R.V.I.S to fill him in.

"Doctor Banner has a fever of 104.2He has been shaking for the last two hours and had a seziure the hour before that."

Clint dropped the bowl in the sink, cutting his hands and smashing the bowl. Cursing out loud he quickly wrapped his hands in bandages and grabbed another bowl.

"J.A.R.V.I.S why didn't you say anything?" Clint knew his tone was accussing, but he didn't care. A seziure for crying out loud. This was bad.

"After Doctor Banner Hulked-out," God did Clint wish J.A.R.V.I.S would take the tone out of his voice when he said those words, it was meant asa joke by the team, guess neither Bruce nor J.A.R.V.I.S liked it, "he spent 36 hours like this.."

"36 hours!" Clint nearly dropped the bowl again, interupting J.A.R.V.I.S as he moved back to the Doctor's side. Careful not to spill any he started to mop up the sweat from the guy's forehead. How had the not noticed? HECK. Clint knew that Banner always  
/hid himself away after becoming the Hulk, but everyone hid after a battle. That was normal. Still, Clint thought to himself as more moans of pain escaped Banner, they should have noticed.

As J.A.R.V.I.S continued listing everything that had happened leading up to this point, Clint became more and more grateful that Stark had made their rooms soundproof. From what J.A.R.V.I.S was saying what Banner was going through was normal. A littleworse  
than normal because Banner hadn't given himself time to recover completly, apperantly something to do with Stark showing up and a phone call from Fury, added to 85 hours without any sleep and the ability to keep food in his stomach for long

had led to this.

As Clint continued to wipe sweat of off Banner's forehead he told J.A.R.V.I.S to keep Stark away and to lie about Banner. If this was normal, and it seemed like it, and Banner hadn't told anyone (not even Stark) then Clint wasn't about to drag anyoneinto  
this. If Banner could keep his secret than Clint could keep Banner's. Plus the Doctor wasn't on good terms with any of them right now and allowing them to see him when he was like this was not going to help.

After an hour Banner settled into a deeper sleep, the shaking still there but it had lessened. According to J.A.R.V.I.S his fever had lessened, giving Banner a temperature of 96.45Clint wished that it had dropped more. He hated seeing anyone in  
pain,and espically after what he had learnt the Doctor went through each and every time he became the Hulk, just made Clint feel worse.

He should have spotted this. He was trained to spot stuff like this.

Sighing and leaning back in his chair, Clint noticed Banner's notebook. It looked old and when Clint opened it a few of the pages fell out. The guy really does have doctor's handwriting doesn't he, Clint thought. From what he could tell this was a journalof  
becoming the Hulk and then becoming Banner again. Clint settled into read it, taking one last look at the Doctor and tucking the blankets tighter around him.

"I'm sorry Bruce."


	6. Chapter 6

**Bruce**

He was cold, so cold.

He couldn't stop himself from shaking.

Bruce could hear voice above him but they were so far away.

He felt himself being pulled into the darkness, enclosing him from all sides.

A cry of pain escaped his lips as he saw his father standing across from him.

Not this memory, any other memory please. Begging himself.

But no one answered.

 **Thank you all again for reading. It means a lot. I'm in a writing mood at the moment so I hope that more chapters will be posted over the next few days. Feedback is great and I am happy to hear any ideas.**

 **Thank you to Th3RedPyro for your review. I have edited that chapter as I forgot about that so thank you for reminding me.**

 **Any mistakes are my own and I do not own any of the rights to the Avengers.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Clint**

Clint yawned as he closed the Doctor's notebook. He'd been reading for six solid hours. The most he had ever read in a long time. Clint used to read any book he get his hands on before becoming a master assissin and joining S.H.I.E.L.D. He couldn't even remember the last time he had been able to read a book. Banner had slept for the entire six hours. Clint had been surprised at how quiet the Doctor's cries of pain had been and how long they had gone on for. It had taken the Doctor around two and a half hours before he stopped shaking completly and another hour before the moaning had stopped.

The further Clint had got into the notebook, made each of Banner's moans of pain send shivers down Clint's spine. From what he was reading what Banner was currently going through was quite low down on his pain scale, (who designed their own pain scale.) He knew that he shouldn't have been so enthralled in the notebook, after all its contents had horified Clint. And that was pretty hard to do.

Banner's groans were so painful to Clint after the first few pages of the notebook. No wonder the guy had needed to invent his own painkiller. A few times Clint had had to put the notebook down and take a breath of fresh air. How the hell did Banner put up with the pain? From what he had read it sounded like Hulking-out nearly killed Banner every time it happened.

Stretching his arms above his head, he rolled the crinks out his neck. Standing quietly as not to wake Banner, J.A.R.V.I.S had told Clint that the Doctor would normally sleep for at 20 hours after Hulking-out. Clint figured that the guy worked sleep for at least another ten hours, at the least. He could take those hours to catch up on some rest himself, and work out how to keep Banner calm when he found out that Clint had read, what was effectivly his soul. Clint knew what he would have done. And he didn't have a giant green rage monster inside off him.

Maybe Clint could use what he had learnt to get Banner to trust him and the rest of the team. Or maybe he could get the guy to at least like himself. Clint understood what it was like to hate yourself and your actions. It was why he had sort the Doctor out after he and Nat had moved into the Tower.

Nat had seemed to think that he would just get over this. He understood that she had no idea on how to deal with this. It was why she had made him move into Stark Towers with her.

Cap spent his time traning, looking for Bucky or trying to undertsand this century. Clint didn't feel that comfortable in talking to him either.

Thor, well Thor was hardly ever here. Only when they had need for him and he spent most of his time with Jane when they weren't fighting.

Stark was no help. He was so wrapped up in himself and in his "science". Although he had been helping Banner, but not well enough, Clint thought, glancing back at the sofa.

It looked like Banner was stirring. From the notebook Clint knew that Banner would be hungry. Time to see if Clint's cooking skills whee still what they had been. He hadn't cooked in a while. Hearing the bin he'd placed by Banner's head being used Clint moved to get some water for the Doctor. Maybe just stick with something simple he thought.

 **I know that the summary said this was about Clint and the next few chapters will be, I just took a turn into Bruce whump. Thank you for any reviews.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Bruce**

Bruce couldn't remember why he was lying under blankets, from his lab, on what seemed to be Agent Bartons sofa. How the hell did he get here? The last thing he remembered was making up another batch of painkillers. He slowly opened his eyes to peer at his watch. HECK! That was at least two days ago. He'd forgotten two days, again.

Opening his eyes a little more the lights started to dance again and the pounding in his head started up again. Even though he hadn't eaten for over 40 hours he felt the wave of sick just seconds before it arrived. Praying that there was a bin on the floor to catch it he emptied the contents of his already empty stomach. He started to shake again and closed his eyes, groaning with pain, when a hand gently touch his forehead. Opening his eyes he saw Barton kneeling next to him, having moved the bin to the side. In one hand he held a glass of water. Bruce also saw his notebook out of the corner of his eye. He groaned again, but louder this time, closing his eyes and tucking his head into his chest.

Why the heck did he have to faint in Agent Barton's rooms? Bruce couldn't work out if it was better than fainting on Tony. Coming to the conclussion that it probably was, Barton was unlikely to run any tests on him or tell anyone else, Bruce opened his eyes again. Facing this head on was probably not the best idea given his current state. But if the archer had read his notebook than he needed to get it over and done with.

Barton offered him the water and Bruce took it. The shaking was calming down. It was still there but it had lessened. He knew that it wouldn't completly stop for a few hours yet, even if he went to sleep. Taking a deep breath Bruce spoke,

"I'm sorry. Normally I can tell if I am going to pass out and I thought that I would at least make it back to my room after you and Tony. Oh God please tell me Tony doesn't know. Or that you didn't kill him, assuming that you went. You probably did seeing as I've been asleep for at lest eight hours and Tony hasn't come barging in or dragged me off for some stupid tests."

Bruce stopped himself and then started to mentally kick himself. Great he had gone from fainting on the archer, to throwing up and then just talking at him. As if the guy didn't already hate him. Why did he care, thought Bruce? He was planning on leaving soon. There was only so much of other people that he could take and if it hadn't been for that three week break then he would have left a long time ago. He hadn't meant to leave for another week or two but this made him reconsider.

Barton was silent just watching him. Why didn't he say something throught Bruce? He didn't know if the silence was worse, he also didn't know if that is what he had ben expecting?

He closed his eyes as another wave of bile came rushing up. He tried to keep it down but it was to much for him. Barton having sensed this had replaced the bin in front of Bruce and for the next few mintues just watched as Bruce threw up his stomach lining.

After Bruce was done he leaned back, shaking his head at the water Barton offered him. Bruce hoped that Barton would let him go back to his own room to wiat this out. There was nothing else Bruce could do. He'd tried everything else, and if Barton had read his notebook then he would know this. Bruce just wanted to be in his rooms where he could wait for this to pass and then leave. He could lie to J.A.R.V.I.S. Dump any tech that Tony had given him, in case Tony had bugged it (Bruce really did not want to be tracked, he'd had enough of that.)

Just as Bruce built up to the strength to tell Barton that he was going back to his own room and that he would be alright, J.A.R.V.I.S spoke up.

 **Sorry to leave it like this but the next chapter isn't finished yet and I want to work on it a bit before putting it out into the big wide world.**

 **Anyway please let me know what you think. I love reading what you guys have to say.**

 **More will be coming tomorrow.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Clint**

Clint had watched as Banner had thrown up whatever was left in his stomach into his bin. Knowing that there was likely more to come he grabbed a few bin bags and while Banner was regaining his composure changed the bin. Getting rid of the sick and moving  
the bin to the side he held the glass of water out to the Doctor.

He knew from his training that the guy needed to eat something, anything really. But he also knew from experience that the last thing Banner would want to do is eat and Clint didn't want to push the Doctor unless he had to. And after reading the notebook  
Clint knew that he was going to have to push Banner. But not yet. They both needed time to prepare.

Banner had groaned upon seeing him and hidden his head. Clint had smiled slightly to himself. He wasn't going to tell anyone about this, not if Banner wasn't going to tell anyone about his deafness. They would most likely come to some sort of truce, Clint  
thought, both had something that they could blackmail the other. Although Clint had a bit more, heck a lot more than Banner considering he'd just read a notebook containing every thought and feeling the Doctor had about himself and the Hulk.

Clint shock his head sadly. If Nat hadn't told him about Banner's attempt at sucicide then Clint would have been amazed at the Doctor's ability to survive. I guess that's why he became a Doctor. To help people, after the incidents.

He leaned forward slightly as Banner began to speak.

Clint listened, realising that Banner had never had anyone to talk about this too. And what luck that he Agent Clint Barton would be the one he talked to. He had no idea if he would be able to help Banner or not. Probably not, but he could try. It was  
the least he could do, after everything.

Hearing Banner continue Clint realised how scared the man was. He'd never thought of Bruce ever being scared, of anything or anyone. Why would he be? He had the Hulk to protect him if anything went wrong. Then Clint remembered the notes. Banner hated  
the Hulk, the only credit he gave him was for making Banner a nicer person. Clint couldn't imagine and arrogant Banner, but according to his notes the Doctor hadn't been the nicest person. Although maybe the Doctor wasn't giving himself any credit.  
Clint remembered meeting Banner for the first time. If he hadn't known about the Hulk then he would have thought that the guy was just like Stark, just quite. There was nothing wrong with Stark, well not much.

He knew that he shouldn't be so interest in Bruce's past, but he couldn't help it. Steve's life was all over the interent, along with Stark's. He knew enough about Nat's to stop him from asking anymore questions. And Thor. Well Thor had myths about him,  
hundreds of books on his life and once you got Thor talking about his childhood he wouldn't shut up. Unless Loki came up that is.

Thinking about Loki gave Clint headaches and made him feel horrible, so he focused nack in on what Banner was saying. He heard Stark's name and noted that Banner's voiced became more panickly, and the words fell over themselves trying to get out. Clint  
chuckled to himself, good thing he hadn't told Stark about any of this, he thought to himself. Like the Doctor was saying he'd most likely want to run some 'stupid tests'. Even Clint gave the billonaire more credit than the Doctor was. Sure Stark  
would want to run a bunch of tests but he would check to make sure that Banner was alright first. He knew that the Doctor was one of the few real friends that the guy had. Sure Stark had loads of 'friends', but they were only there for his money and  
fame. Whereas Banner hated all of that. Couldn't stand it in fact.

And Clint knew for a fact that Stark was the first person Banner had trusted in years. Until they'd all ruined that it is.

Clint had been shocked at the fact that the Doctor had stuck around for so long until he found out about the fact that the guy took secret holidays, if you could call them that, every few months. The last one had gone on three weeks, and it had taken  
Clint oneof those to work out that the Doctor was gone. No one else had questioned it and Clint knew Banner had been hurt by that fact. Even if he hadn't wanted anyone to know about his 'holidays'.

In fact Clint had gone to talk to him about it. But he had fallen asleep on the sofa in the Doctor's lab while waiting, and the next thing he knew he was being thrown through the air by the Hulk. Clint didn't blame Bruce or the Hulk. (Clint really liked  
the Hulk. He was like a small child, and he seemed to like Clint too.)Clint had spent a week on bed rest before going to look for the Doctor, he still didn't know why the guy had Hulked-out (no-one would tell him.) That was when he'd noticed  
that Banner was gone. No-one could get into his lab, not even Stark (Banner using non-tech methods.) Clint had worked out long ago that Banner kept a few go backs, always one at hand. He had been impressed when he first found out, it meant that Banner  
could take care of himself, even without the Hulk. But after a while Clint had started to notice other behaviours that Banner had picked up on the run and it started to scare Clint.

He'd been on the run before of course, but he'd always known that at some point he would find some he could rely on. And when he'd found Nat and then Phil he had allowed himself to relax a little and have something of a life. He knew that someone was  
always watching his back, while he was watching their's. Bruce had never had that. Clint didn't know how long it had been since the Doctor had had someone that he could turn to, someone to call a friend. That wasn't a life, he had thought then and  
as that thought creeped into his head he realised that Banner had been quietfor a while.

Bringing himself back around Clint noticed that Banner's shaking had gotten worse. In a second he had replaced his body with the bin, watching as he threw up his stomach lining. This really wasn't good. If he hadn't know that this was normal he would  
have dragged Stark down here and probably a bunch of Doctors. Which if anything would have made Banner worse. He sent up a silent pray to J.A.R.V.I.S for finding him the notebook.

Banner refused the water Clint offered. He could tell that Banner was upset about him reading the notebook and that the guy probably wanted to be somewhere else. Clint could always move him back to the Doctor's rooms, or the lab. But Stark would probably  
find Banner then and that was the last thing that either of them wanted.

He watched as Banner took a deep breath. Clint was going to have to fight to keep him here. He got ready, when J.A.R.V.I.S spoke up.


	10. Chapter 10

**J.A.R.V.I.S**

The AI watched as Doctor Banner was sick again. Anyone who knew the computor would have been shocked at how nervous J.A.R.V.I.S was. He hadn't been sure about allowing Agent Barton to take care of the Doctor. The Doctor had been most upset when he discovered that J.A.R.V.I.S had been tracking him and making sure that he had everything he needed. In fact Doctor Banner had spent an entire afternoon trying to find where J.A.R.V.I.S kept the memory of his notebook stored.

The AI had taken pictures as one of Mr Stark's robots held the book open.

J.A.R.V.I.S knew how much Doctor Banner meant to Mr Stark and after noticing how bad the Doctor had been after a 'Hulk-out'. How J.A.R.V.I.S hated that term. And he knew how much Doctor Banner hated it to, (which was the reason that the term could no longer be typed into any piece of Stark Tech, or any other tech for that matter.)

The Doctor and the AI had therefore come to an agreement. J.A.R.V.I.S would keep the Doctor's secret about his 'holidays' and his recovery after 'Hulking-out'. (He really must find a better term.)

It had been working very well, but J.A.R.V.I.S had become worried after Doctor Banner's three week 'holiday'. He had therefore taken it upon himself to create a situation where someone would have to see the Doctor like this. He had decided that Agent Barton was the best option.

J.A.R.V.I.S had the entire trap, (again he needed another term), when Agent Barton had lost his hearing aids and Doctor Banner had passed out.

The AI was glad that both men were starting to talk to each other, they both needed it.

Which was why when Director Fury had called J.A.R.V.I.S had held him off for as long as possible, but he had gotten through to Mr Stark, who was now on his way here. And with that he spoke.


	11. Chapter 11

**Bruce**

Bruce froze as he heard J.A.R.V.I.S speaking.

"Director Fury has requested that you both suit up and get to LA as quick as Banner. Director Fury feels that this is a Code

portal has opened up and while they are in the process of shuting it down S.H.I.E.L.D needs the remaining Avengers to help deal with the..." Here J.A.R.V.I.S paused not sure how to re-word what the Director had said.

Most likely a bright and colourful combination of swearing. The Director's way with words could be quite entertaining sometimes. He heard Clint reply to J.A.R.V.I.S and then startled when there was a knock at the door. Tony, he thought as he sighed, his  
/head falling into his hands. He might as well get this over with.

Bruce pushed himself up and started to gently nudge the Other Guy awake. When he felt him stiring he closed his eyes as he forced himself to keep the Other Guy angry while making sure that he didn't change just yet. Doubling over with pain he felt the  
/world start to sway. This only made the Other Guy worse. He was really fighting Bruce now and he knew from experience that he wouldn't last long, not in this state.

He tried to walk but after two steps started to fall. Clint caught him and threw one of Bruce's arms around his shoulder. With no questions he told J.A.R.V.I.S to make sure that his equipment was wanting for him on the quinjet and then taking some of  
/Bruce's weight moved them to the doorway. Past Tony who was frozen in shock for a few seconds, and then running to catch up. A few of the arrows he'd been working on where in his hand, along with one of Clint's bows.

Bruce knew that if it wasn't for him then the archer would have been chewing Tony's head off. That thought made him smile, until the Other Guy managed to break down one of Bruce's walls. His back arched in pain and he knew that his eyes were flashing  
/green. His cry echoed down the hallway and throughout Stark Towers. Bruce tried to throw up more walls but he didn't have the strength. He felt Tony's arm around his waist and the billionaire moved to help Clint with him.

"How long?" He heard Clint asked.

From what Bruce could see they were approching the quinjet. It would take them at least 45 mintues to reach LA, maybe less, maybe more. Bruce wasn't sure how long he could hold the Other Guy out. He was getting to close to the surface for comfort. Bruce  
/felt as Tony and Barton laid him on the quinjet floor, the engines were just making his headache worse. He felt Tony and Barton pin him gently to the floor. They knew that if they pushed to hard then the Other Guy would appear and that wasn't a good  
/idea. It normaly took the Other Guy a good while to wake up when Bruce was feeling this bad, but he had been stirring ever since he'd woken up. And Bruce knew that he was mad.

Mad at being woken up.

Mad at Fury for needing him when both he and Bruce were ill.

Mad that Bruce wasn't letting him out.

Mad that it was Clint helping him. (Even though he like the guy somewhat.)

And Bruce knew that he was mad at Bruce for planning on running away again.

The Other Guy liked Stark Towers. He liked the people, they let him smash. At that thought the Hulk tore down another of Bruce's walls and he felt his bones tearing themselves out of their joints, ready to grown. If he opened his eyes then he knew he  
/that his skin would have a green glow to it. But he couldn't not yet, he had to hold the Other Guy in for a little longer.

"How long?" Bruce heard the worry and pain in Barton's voive. The worry he had expected but not the pain. Bruce knew that he looked bad, but Bruce also knew he'd looked worse. The guy should know that too, seeing as he'd read Bruce's notebook. That thought  
/caused another wall to fall and Bruce to scream in pain. Turning into the Hulk wasn't ever painless, but the fact that he was half-dead and having to fight for control was making it worse than normal. The quinjet wasn't helping at all, but at least  
/they were moving.

"Not long." He replied, hearing the pain in his voice. He felt his mind sink into darkness.

In the distance Bruce could hear Barton shouting at the pilot to speed up.

"Come on Banner. 20 minutes. Just 20 minutes Bruce. You need to hold on that long." Bruce, when had the archer ever called him Bruce. That thought along allowed him to gain a little more control over the Other Guy. "Come on Bruce. Not long and the Other  
/Guy can go wild." The Other Guy.

Bruce heard a slight moan escape his lips. Barton had read his notebook. He heard a chuckle and then Tony scream at the archer for laughing, did he not know how dangerous this situation was. Bruce smiled, it had been a long time since anyone had cared  
/about him, but then again Tony had just called him a danger. That man really had no filter did he.

Barton calmed down and told Tony to go suit up as they were getting closer and that once Tony was suited up he would go and change. Tony agreed and Bruce felt the weight leave his left side. But only for a moment, as Barton moved to cover that side with  
/one of his arms. Leaning down closer to Bruce, he heard the other man whisper.

"After this you are going to sleep, I don't care where or for how long, but you are going to sleep. I am going to watch." Bruce groaned slightly at this but his groan only made the archer laugh quietly. "It's either me or Tony, Bruce. But someone needs  
/to watch." Barton waited for a reply as Bruce again fought for control. He could feel his grip on the Other Guy sliding, he hoped that the quinjet get them to LA in time.

"Not Tony." He gasped.

"Good." He felt Barton lean in closer, Tony must be coming back. "Then when you wake up we can talk about your little 'holidays' and your notebook."

The mention of Bruce's 'holidays', as Barton called them, caused him to lose his grip entirely and the Other Guy to appear.

 **Sorry, it's later than I said, but life caught up with me. I really hope that you guys like it.**

 **Please review, it's lovely to know what people think and lets me know that people actually want to read this. I am open to listening to people's ideas about where they think this story should go.**

 **Thanks again.**

 **Next chapter should be up soon.**


	12. Chapter 12

**Clint**

What was it with everyone just now wanting to invade Earth?

If that wasn't bad enough Clint had lost his hearing-aids. Since the Hulk had made an apperance on the quinjet, (20 minutes to early), the day had been getting steadly worse. He couldn't work out what had caused Banner to change. He'd figure it out later, he really did not have the time now, Clint thought as he took out another alien. Losing his hearing aids was a problem but didn't mean that he was completly useless. Just that he was having to work from a distance. (He had placed himself on a tower block above the battle.) And Clint prefered working from a distance if he was honest. His main weapon was a bow and arrow, what could he say.

It had been fifteen minutes since he'd lost his hearing-aids and although Clint couldn't anything on the comms, (he'd lost those too), Clint was sure that they were winning. Well, at the very least the aliens seemed to be running away.

Clint felt something hit his arm. He twisted round and came face to face with a group of twenty aliens. Reaching for his knife he noticed that his arm was bleeding heavily. Now normally twenty aliens wouldn't be too bad, hard but do-able. However, without being able to hear anything and not being able to use one of his arms made the task just a tiny bit harder. Plus he couldn't call either Stark or Hulk for help, and there was no way that they would notice him from where he was.

Taking a deep breath Clint threw a few knifes taking down seven aliens and then praying that he would be alive for Nat to scream at him for being so careless he ran at the aliens.

* * *

It took him ten minutes but he managed to take out another ten aliens. However, Clint knew that he wouldn't last another ten minutes. His arm had taken more hits and was next to useless. He'd also taken a few hits to the head.

He might last another ten minutes, but it was unlikely.

Sending a quick pray to whoever it was that had kept him alive, (Probably Fury, the guy was all-seeing and all-knowing. And seemed to be everywhere at once.)

While Clint was having that thought half the aliens in front of him were suddenly sent flying. Looking up Clint saw the Hulk.

Thank the Fury.

Clint really hoped that he hadn't said that aloud.

The Hulk decided that just knocking over the aliens wasn't enough fun so started to smash them into one another. Clint laughed seeing the smile the Hulk had plasted all over his face. They knew that the Hulk enjoyed smashing, but he just looked like an over-excited child.

Clint took a step back knowing that it was better to just leave the Hulk to his thing.


	13. Chapter 13

**Hulk**

Hulk had smashed his way towards Clint. Bruce thought that something was wrong with Bow and Hulk liked Bow.

Hulk saw the aliens.

Hulk smashed the aliens. They were hurting Bow and that made Hulk mad. It made Bruce mad. Bow was nice to Bruce and Hulk. In time Bow would be Bruce's friend. If Bruce stopped running away. Hulk did not like running away. Maybe Bow being Bruce's friend would make him stop. Iron had helped, Bruce did not run away as often.

Shoving the aliends to the side had not been as much fun as Hulk had hoped. So he picked one up and smashed it into another. This was fun. Hulk smiled as he hit the aliens into one another.

* * *

When Hulk had smashed all the aliens he looked at Bow. His head fell to one side. Something was still wrong with Bow. Hulk felt Bruce pushing something into his mind.

Hulk moved his hands the way that Bruce was showing him in his head. He laughed as Bow fell backwards out of shock. Making more motions with his hands Hulk saw Bow start to understand him.

Bow's hands started to sign back at him. Bow had lost something that made him hear. Hulk nodded understanding. He turned in circles searching.


	14. Chapter 14

**Clint**

He'd fallen over backwards when the Hulk began to talk to him in sign language. He knew that Banner and the Hulk were able to communicate with one another but he hadn't known that the Hulk could speak sign language.

The Hulk was asking if 'Bow' was hurt. With a laugh Clint realised that 'Bow' must be him. It was a clever nickname and with a start Clint noticed that he liked it. (It was better than any of Starks at least.)

Clint told the Hulk that he was fine, a little hurt but fine. He also said that he had lost his hearing-aids. Then seeing the confused look on the guys face he explained that hearing-aids how he heard. Not knowing how well he'd explained it, Clint started to think of other ways to explain it. When the Hulk began to turn around in circles.

* * *

After a few mintues Clint remembered something that he had read in Banner's notebook. The Hulk's eyesight was a lot better than that of any humans. He must be looking for Clint's hearing-aids.

Moving to tell the Hulk that it was fine and that he had a spare pair back on the quinjet, the Hulk lept over to the other side of the roof. As he started to through rubble down onto the battle, taking out a bunch of aliens and searching. Two birds, one stone thought Clint as the Hulk sat down, looking rather pleased with himself.

Climbing carefully over the rubble, watching out for his injuries, Clint made his way over to the Hulk. By the time he reached him the Hulk was starting too get a bit board. Seeing that he had been joined he pointed at something. Clint moved closer and saw his hearing-aids, somehow unbroken. Picking them up he placed them in his ears. He heard Stark shouting at both him and the Hulk too stop sitting on their arses and join him.

Clint removed the one hearing-aid that wasn't working and slipped it into his pocket.

Having done that he picked up his bow and turned to the Hulk. The Hulk signed at him. He wanted to take Bow back to the quinjet. Noticing the pain in his arm Clint knew that he was all but useless and that his arm needed medical care urgantly. He nodded at the Hulk giving his agreement. And before he knew it he was holding onto the Hulk's arm for dear-life, while flying, (well more like controled falling), through the air. He passed out just before they landed.

* * *

It hadn't been an easy fight, seeing as Thor, Steve and Nat weren't there. If the Hulk hadn't been there than Clint wasn't sure what they would have done. Clint had been shocked at at how painful Banner's transformation into the Hulk had been. Before it had seemed seamless and while Clint knew that it must be somewhat painful, he didn't think that it would have been that painful. But after seeing Bruce transform Clint felt guilty for ever doubting Banner's place on the team.

They had spent three hours fighting. It had taken S.H.I.E.L.D that long to shut the portal and finish with the aliens. S.H.I.E.L.D was currently cleaning up the mess. He and Stark were searching for Doctor Banner. The Hulk had wandered off when he had finished smashing. Seeing as Bruce Banner had a thing with any government employee of any kind. And the Hulk had a thing for smashing any government employee. Therefore Clint and Stark had been sent to track the Doctor down.

It had taken him a while to come to after passing out and Stark had almost started an agrument with him for wanting to find Banner, but even Stark knew not to challenge Clint when he was in this mood.

Clint was hoping that he would find Banner insted of Stark. It wasn't that Stark would do anything wrong, (well this was Stark), it was just that Clint didn't know what state Banner would be in. And Clint, having read the Doctor's notebook, figured that he might be better able to deal with the aftermath of a 'hulk-out'. Espically after what had happened between him and the Hulk. Clint felt like he had made a new friend. And he had no idea how the Doctor would react. If he even remembered, Clint had read the notebook.

While thinking about what he would do if he found the Doctor and in what condition he would find the guy. Alive and concious he hoped. He climed up a pile of rubble to scope out a larger area. Nearly every part of his body hurt and he was still bleeding heavily but he had to find Banner.

Stark came in over the comms.

"Banner's close by you. To your right. About 10 o'clock." Clint turned to his 10 o'clock. Sighed he scanned either side of the general area. Stark was right, he could see Banner, but not at his 10 o'clock.

"11 o'clock Stark. ELEVEN O'CLOCK." Clint shouted at Stark through his comms.

"Alright so I was off by an hour. I'll bring to quinjet over to you." They had tried carrying Banner through the air, but it just brought the Hulk back out.

Reaching Banner, Clint checked his pulse and saw that although Banner had passed out he would be fine. The quinjet hovered above them and slowly lowered itself to the ground. Clint and Stark carried Doctor Banner onboard and thanking that Banner and Stark had invented stretchy pants. They tucked him up in in one of the seats and settled down for the ride back to the Tower.


	15. Chapter 15

**Bruce**

Bruce really wanted to throw up. It was normal after becoming the Hulk, and it had been rather painful this time. Hoping that the bucket he kept by his bed was still there, and that he was in his bed. Bruce threw himself on his side and emptied his stomach. He felt two arms hold him still as his body began to shake. It took him a few mintues to stop throwing up and once he had he felt a bottle of water being pressed to his lips. Pushing it away out of fear Bruce heard a voice try and comfort him. Noticing that it was Clint Bruce accepted the water and waited for the shaking to stop.

* * *

He slept for the next few days and whenever he woke, Clint was there with water, food and comforting words. Even when Bruce had his nightmares, Clint stayed holding him and waking him when it got too bad. He never once left Bruce's side, not even when Nat and Steve came back from training. Not even when Fury demanded that he show up for de-briefing or when he was offered other missions.

Tony helped to keep S.H.I.E.L.D away by making it virtually impossible for them to enter the Tower. Clint also made sure that the other Avengers kept away. Tony would stop by every now and then but was kicked out very quickly after he tried to wake Bruce and talk him into helping out with a new project of his. Clint had left the room for a few minutes when Bruce had kicked his bucket over, knowing that the archer would come running.

Steve had popped in to check on them and then seeing Banner had quickly left and gone to help Tony with keeping Fury away.

Nat had even been turned away after a while. Bruce knew that when Clint was sleeping or needed to do something urgantly that she would watch over him. He tried to stay away for these moments but normally he just slept through them.


	16. Chapter 16

It took him a week off sleeping and then another day and a half before he left his room. He and Clint hadn't really talked much during that time but a bond had sprung up between them. The other Avengers noticed that they would watch out for each other and that sometimes when Banner dissappered into his lab for days on end, that Clint would join him. No one knew what they did during these times and they both planned on keeping it that way.

The few conversations that they had with each other during that week helped the other to sleep better and come to term with their past. And if they invented their own sign language short-hand then who could blame them.

 **Sorry that it took me so long to get this one finished and out. I've been ill the past week so spent a lot of time sleeping and watching TV. Came up with some ideas for other stories that should come out soon. But again sorry for this one being late.**

 **To Mystryfann thank you for I'm so glad that you liked it.**

 **Please review. It lets me know what I'm doing right and what you guys enjoy. I've didn't think that anyone would want to read this so thank you so much for reading it.**


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